My First 2 KM Run

Running My First 2k

Hard to believe it was about 20 years ago. My wife and I decided to buy a running stroller and go for a run with our young daughter. Feeling great, wore whatever runners I had lying around, some shorts and a cotton T-shirt. It was a warm summer day and we lived on a fairly long street in Waterloo Ontario. I was in my early thirties and felt relatively fit. This should be a breeze, we will go to the end of the street and back. It was probably about 2 kms.
Out to the end of the driveway, get through a few basic stretches, get the stroller and our daughter readied and off we go

The first 30 or so seconds felt good. The next 30 seconds were getting a bit weird. The next minute or so was getting absolutely crazy. I literally could not breathe! After about 3 minutes, I was done. I began to walk and my wife carried on (I was not a runner, she ran once in a while). My breathing was very heavy but I still wanted to give it another try. After a couple of minutes I tried again. This time i lasted maybe 2 minutes, same thing, couldn’t breathe had to walk. I could see my wife and child off in the distance she was nearing the end of the street, I was struggling at the halfway mark to the end of the street so that would be about 25% of a 2km run . I continued to walk until my wife was working her way back. At this point, I turned and walked back to our house. I covered just over 1km, was soaking with sweat, still struggling to catch my breathe and very disappointed.

I really wanted to be a runner. Why is it so hard. Will I ever be able to run 2kms. The answer is yes, eventually. I did everything wrong. I wasn’t fit enough. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t think about running gear and my expectations were too high. Running is hard. You have to manage your expectations and prepare yourself mentally to take your time. Running is way more involved than just putting on your running shoes and taking off. But when you plan, learn some tips and manage your expectations you will get to where you want to be. I did it, it probably took me about 3 months just to get to a 2km run at a slow pace but almost twenty years on I am a regular runner. I will share my tips and techniques here on Running.ca and hopefully others join in and share their running success stories. It is a very rewarding exercise and well worth the efforts!